The next day, when Kurenai Yuhi arrived excitedly at the Hatake residence with breakfast in hand, the smile on her face froze slightly.
"Asuma, what are you doing here?"
Kurenai looked a bit resentfully at the two people sitting on the wooden floor of the veranda, enjoying their breakfast.
"Ah, well..."
Faced with Kurenai's somewhat displeased tone, Asuma seemed a little flustered.
"Asuma invited me over for a meal after he heard I was broke."
"Isn't that right, Asuma?"
As Kakashi spoke, he dropped a dumpling into the dog bowl beneath the veranda.
A small Shar-Pei wearing a vest and a Konoha headband emerged from under the veranda and gobbled up the dumpling in the bowl in one bite.
"Yeah, that's exactly it!"
Asuma nodded quickly upon hearing this.
Kurenai pouted, glaring at the two guys who had obviously conspired ahead of time.
"Kurenai Yuhi's emotions fluctuated +1."
"Chakra +1%."
"Asuma Sarutobi's emotions fluctuated +1."
"Chakra +1%."
"Current Chakra: 149%."
Sensing the notification in his mind, Kakashi felt a bit satisfied. Even without doing anything to draw attention, he was naturally approaching three times his usual chakra reserves.
Uchiha Obito had been indispensable in this; besides him, Might Guy and Kurenai Yuhi had also contributed a lot.
That said, compared to Naruto's hundredfold chakra, he still had a long way to go.
It was worth noting that Naruto, that chakra powerhouse, still had four times the chakra even under the suppression of Yamato's Wood Release.
On that front, Kakashi could only sigh that comparisons were odious.
But speaking of Naruto... Kakashi chewed his food slowly, thinking about his sensei's son.
Should he find some time to visit him? While Kakashi pondered this, Kurenai Yuhi, wearing a displeased expression, kicked off her shoes and squeezed in between them, mimicking Kakashi and Asuma.
With a huff, she set the takeout breakfast down between the two of them and said through somewhat gritted teeth:
"Let me join you!"
Even Kakashi, who had no interest in romantic entanglements, could tell from her tone that the beautiful girl was quite upset right now.
Kakashi and Asuma exchanged a glance, tacitly choosing to stay silent.
They casually picked up the rice balls Kurenai had brought and started eating them.
"Woof, if you can't finish, you can give it to me."
Pakku scratched at the wooden floor with his two paws, his eyes fixed on the unfinished dumplings from Kakashi and Asuma.
"Here, eat up."
Kakashi thoughtfully dumped the remaining dumplings from his bowl into Pakku's dog bowl.
Asuma did the same.
Watching Pakku wolf down his food, Kakashi felt a twinge of regret.
Compared to Kurenai's rice balls, he actually preferred the dumplings.
But if he fed the rice balls she'd brought to Pakku right in front of her, he'd probably lose this meal ticket.
"Does Kakashi have any plans for today?"
During the oddly quiet breakfast, Kurenai couldn't hold back and broke the silence first.
"I plan to go find Shizune."
?!
Her crimson eyes narrowed slightly without her realizing it, carrying an inexplicable meaning.
"To ask if there are any precautions after the eye replacement."
This was a lie.
His main purpose was to find Shizune and ask her to keep the fact that he had Rin's eyes a secret.
Kakashi glanced at Kurenai as he finished his rice ball in a few bites.
"I see, and after that?"
Kurenai felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
"Asuma will join me for some rehab training."
Hearing Kakashi mention him, Asuma blinked in confusion.
"Is that so?"
Kurenai looked at Asuma.
"Yeah, exactly!"
Asuma swallowed the rice ball in his mouth and nodded quickly.
"I could join Kakashi for rehab training too..."
"...Never mind, let Asuma handle it."
The girl pouted, speaking with a hint of uncertainty.
But halfway through, she realized she wasn't confident she could keep up with Kakashi's training.
Even if Kakashi hadn't fully recovered, she wouldn't be his match.
Plus, she was a genjutsu-type ninja, and taijutsu was her weak point.
Rehab training mainly involved getting a body that hadn't moved in days back into action.
Kakashi was always efficient. After a simple breakfast, he headed to the hospital and was lucky enough to run into Shizune, who was just about to start her shift.
After exchanging a few words with her, Kakashi got straight to the point.
Shizune didn't ask too many questions; she simply gave Kakashi an 'OK' gesture.
"No problem at all."
All ninjas had their own secrets, and Kakashi's Sharingan was pretty much common knowledge.
That Sharingan, which was always active, had suddenly turned into a normal black eye.
If they encountered an enemy who didn't know the inside story, whether Kakashi had fully mastered the Sharingan or lost it could tip the scales in battle.
So Shizune understood completely.
"You've been a big help."
"I'll treat you to a meal sometime, Shizune."
Kakashi chuckled in thanks.
"Isn't Kakashi broke right now?"
"Does that mean Kakashi treats, but I pay?"
Shizune teased Kakashi with a playful smile.
"Ah, well..."
"So Shizune knows too..."
Kakashi felt a bit awkward.
"Hehe, of course. Kurenai complained to me about it last night, you know~"
Shizune looked at the embarrassed Kakashi, chuckled, patted his shoulder, and continued:
"I won't tease you anymore, Kakashi."
"As for the meal, forget it. After all, your main goal right now is to adapt to fighting without the Sharingan as quickly as possible."
"I'll get back to work now."
"You should head back soon too, Kakashi."
"Bye-bye~"
Watching the girl disappear down the hospital corridor with light steps, Kakashi smiled helplessly.
Seriously... he hadn't expected Kurenai to tell Shizune about his embarrassing broke situation.
But it didn't matter.
The eye issue was taken care of.
Next up was getting back into his old sword skills and pushing hard in that direction.
Asuma was already waiting for Kakashi at the hospital entrance.
Now, seeing Kakashi come out, he strolled over with his hands in his pockets.
"So, find a spot?"
Kakashi nodded slightly in response.
Although Asuma's strength wasn't on par with Might Guy's, he was still outstanding among their peers.
As an opponent for these three days of rehab training, he'd be plenty.
By the time he retrieved his sword in three days, he should be almost fully recovered.
Then, Might Guy could be his sparring partner to get reacquainted with his old sword techniques.
He just hoped Might Guy wouldn't get all fired up yelling about youth and open the Eight Gates on him... otherwise, his current body really couldn't take it.
As for Naruto... he'd find a chance to visit him later.